Kerala compensates family of Bengal migrant worker killed by mob

Kolkata: Kerala government has handed over Rs 2-lakh compensation to the family of a migrant worker from Malda district who died on 15 July after being attacked by a mob at Kollam in Kerala on the suspicion of being a thief.

The deceased Manik Roy (47) hailed from Rajnagar village under Gazole police station in Malda and had been working as a mason at private construction sites at Kollam for almost eight years. He used to visit his family in Malda once a year.

CF Dileepkumar, the labour publicity officer of Kerala said in a statement that Roy was attacked by a mob on 24 June and was hospitalised at government expenditure but he succumbed to the injuries on 15 July.

With the help of his family members who went to Kerala, Roy’s body was sent to Malda by road for cremation. Kerala police subsequently arrested all the accused of killing Roy.

“Recently, the labour minister TP Ramakrishnan handed over financial aid of Rs 2-lakh to the daughter and son-in-law of the slain mason by inviting them over to Kerala. The minister termed such lynching a disgrace to the state of Kerala and assured that the government will not tolerate such tendencies,” Dileepkumar said.

Monotosh Roy, the eldest son of the deceased mason, said over the phone from Malda that they could never imagine in their worst dream that his father would be lynched in an area where he was working for eight years.

“We are thankful that Kerala government has extended the compensation, but we want them to ensure the strictest punishment for the arrested culprits,” he said.

A sizeable number of wage workers from Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Assam and UP go to Kerala in search of jobs and prefer to work there as the wage for carpentry, masonry, etc. is comparatively higher there.

NEWSMEN is an online news portal focused on news and views from Bengal and the Bengali / Bengal diaspora spread all over. Coinciding with the 73rd anniversary of the Quit India Movement, NEWSMEN went live over the world-wide-web on 09 August 2015.